


The Forest

by ReadingFan



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Anal Sex, M/M, Plot, Slow Build, Violence, Werewolf Derek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 00:33:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2487872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReadingFan/pseuds/ReadingFan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where magic and supernatural creatures are the norm, and werewolves are considered to be little more than savage animals, Stiles, a young mage who’s on a quest to find and possibly rescue his mentor, gets more than he bargained for when he stops to help a dark haired stranger from being captured by the so called peace keepers of Beacon Hills. As he quickly discovers the man in question is not a man at all but a werewolf who seems to quickly become attached to Stiles , his attempts to escape the werewolves attention fail drastically and with little other choice he reluctantly decides to allow him to tag along , not knowing how thankful he will eventually become that he did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The letter

**Author's Note:**

> Hi , this is a work in progress , i have most of the story mapped out, so i should be able to update relatively often. I don't have a beta , so there is probably some mistakes , Sorry! feel free to comment and enjoy :)
> 
> NOTE: this work is currently on hold until mid December , as i'm immensely busy with uni work , I will be finishing it though!

No one believes him. They say he’s paranoid and is only looking for trouble where there isn’t any. Not even his dad believes him, he doesn’t scoff and clearly show his distaste in his theory like the others in his village he attempted to convince , but it’s obvious where he stands on the subject. But Stiles _knows_ that something is wrong, he _knows_ that his mentor wouldn’t simply up and leave with only a short vague letter left behind for him. The letter may be written in Deaton’s scrawl but they’re not his _words._

_Dear Stiles._

_I’m sorry but I must leave at once. A Friend of mine is in need of my assistance. Do not wait until my return to continue your studies, find another master mage to be your mentor._

_Best wishes_

_Master Mage Deaton_

It’s formality, abruptness and general vagueness is very much like Deaton , and if you didn’t spend hours a day , every day , working under him as his apprentice , you would believe that this is his word. But Stiles HAS spent all that time with him and there are a number of discrepancies that in his mind proves there was foul play involved with his sudden disappearance. First of all Deaton never calls him Stiles, he has refused to from day one and simply refers to him as young mage, always. He also never calls himself or any other Mage a master despite what their official title may say, Stiles can hear his voice clearly in his head, he’s repeated the words many times.

_‘No one can become a master of magic, young mage, there is always more to learn, so many more areas we have simply yet to discover, and those who refer to themselves as so, are bumbling buffoons’_

What makes Stiles certain though is his mention of a friend. Deaton is renowned for his expertise and discoveries of magic and he is widely respected in most circles, however he is not well liked. His eccentric personality that quite frankly can sometimes become manic, and his controversial views (his view on the title of master for instance) is not popular with the mostly arrogant, stiff , elite members of the magic communities. There is only one person Stiles can think of that’s remotely close to being Deaton’s friend , and that’s his old mentor Master Mage Dimitri , but he would never refer to him as such , he would call him simply Dimitri, and if that’s where Deaton has gone he would have taken Stiles with him , he’s sure of it.  

Having failed to get anyone to accompany him ,Stiles sets off on his own to the capital of Beacon Hills, Hill City, where Dimitri lives. If there is anyone who will believe Stiles and know how to help with whatever has happened to Deaton, Dimitri is that person.

Carrying only 2 sets of spare clothes, the money he’s saved up, a ration of food, and some herbs and parchments he took from Deaton’s cottage , Stiles waves goodbye to his concerned father and begins his journey by heading south into the village. His father, who is a carpenter, needs the only horse they own for deliveries, so he has to travel by foot , this will take him about seven days if he doesn’t dawdle and the weather continues in its current pleasant state despite it being late fall , he can only hope that wherever Deaton is , his life is not in immediate danger.

After a few moments of walking Stiles passes by the McCall’s house and he begins to miss his best friend Scott more than ever. He knows that if he had asked, Scott would have agreed to accompany him whether he believed what Stiles thinks to be true or not, but unfortunately Scott left the village two days ago to travel to the next village over, Maysbury, in order to ask Chris Argent  permission to marry his daughter, Allison , who he met at the spring fair this year. Stiles could head there first, but not only would he lose two days in travel time , he is reluctant to do anything to mess up Scott’s chance with Allison as he is completely besotted with her , so with a sigh and a longing look towards the well-kept thatched cottage Stiles continues on to the village centre.

The sprawling country side begins to show more evidence of human in-habitation as Stiles walks further South. The space between people’s homes become less and eventually small cottages gives way to taller town houses. The dirt roads that Stiles was previously walking on starts to see more activity from horses and carts so he moves to the edge of the path for the rest of his journey through the village . Houndsbrough isn’t a large village but it is a thriving one, surrounded by forests that are rich in magic herbs and elements, the village sees a lot of magic inclined travellers and the businesses that reside here reflect that. The village consists of, two busy Inns, three mage shops, three stables (each with their own full time stable boy) , two large taverns that also serve food , a church ,and the newest addition, the Peace Keepers base (really a town house that has been converted to have enough rooms to hold the four peace keepers of our village and any prisoners they may take). The Peace Keepers are Beacon Hills new policing agency that’s recently been created and dispatched to all villages in the country by order of the King to protect the innocent from magic inclined criminals and creatures. They are mainly an attempt to control the rising level of supernatural creature attacks that have been happening of late, creatures who before were only seen by the few who ventured deep into the forests are suddenly appearing throughout the country, attacking random villages causing high levels of destruction, and in some cases death in an alarming number of places. Luckily Houndsbrough has so far avoided such incidents but Stiles appreciates the Peace Keeper’s presence regardless (who are trained and equipped with magic tools to deal with such creatures), even if his experience with them so far has proven them to be self-important assholes. 

Stiles soon finds himself escaping the busy village and walking up the wide dirt path that leads to the forest filled mountain’s beyond, and after turning to give a final look to the village he has never left before, he ignores the nervous fluttering of his stomach and continues to make his way up the slight incline. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stiles couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes from the village when he starts to hear raised angry voices beyond the curve of the path that lies up ahead. Slowing his approach he strains to hear what they are saying.

“Shit! Don’t let go! keep spraying him with the wolfsbane, the last thing we need his him getting his strength back” Frowning when he thinks he recognizes the voice, Stiles quietly lowers his pack to the floor in order to find his cujori herb that ,when used with the right thought, can stun and incapacitate someone for a varied amount of time. The time depends on how powerful the mage is who uses it , Stiles has yet to get the chance to use It so is unsure how long he can get it to last , but with the attacks that have been going on lately he feels better to have some sort of defense on him. Inching his way closer to the curve of the path the sounds up ahead become clearer.

“Watch his claws man! Spray him again and don’t stop until I insert these things ” He hears a spraying noise then , followed by pain filled yelps and growls that makes his eyes widen . Curiosity getting to him, Stiles jogs the final distance around the corner and freezes at what he sees, completely stunned by the picture.

Two Peace Keepers from his village are holding a dark haired man between them, he’s completely naked, has a knife sticking from his one side and is whimpering every time he inhales the purple powder one of the Peace Keepers is blowing in his face using some sort of device Stiles doesn’t recognize. In front of the injured man , leaning towards him, is a third Peace Keeper, who’s holding a large metal spike in his hand. As he watches the Peace keeper pulls the injured man’s right arm down so it’s lying on the floor palm up , then before Stiles can read his intention ,he lines up the spike to the man’s wrist and stomps on it with enough force that it goes straight through resulting in a sickening spray of blood and a heart stopping pain filled howl from the man.

Stiles gasps from where he is frozen in horror and the man’s face snaps up to look at him , his eyes are so confused, lost and _pain filled_ that it breaks Stiles from his stupor and without thinking it through he rushes towards the men , concentrating his thoughts towards the herb in his hand Stiles releases the power that builds in his palms and throws the herbs into the air . In mid-flight the seed like herbs explode into dust and rains down on the men. Before the Peace Keepers have a chance to turn his way they collapse onto the floor, eyes open but unable to move. The injured man however does not seem to be affected by the herbs, confused by this but not having the time to think about it Stiles kneels next to him and hears his quiet whimpers, wincing internally , without pausing to second guess himself, Stiles pulls the spike from his wrist and the man howls again.

“Sorry buddy but we have got to move-” before he can finish the sentence Stiles notices something that makes his blood freeze in his veins. The wrist he’s holding in order to stem the bleeding is healing. As in visibly healing , he watches it for a couple of seconds and it’s almost closed up when Stiles snaps his face up to the man’s except the man doesn’t look like he did a moment ago. His eyes are glowing red , his teeth now have large fangs , and hair has sprouted along the sides of his face ,and , the strangest thing of all, his eyebrows have completely disappeared. Stiles knows what he is, he’s seen  pictures of them in books, except in them their eyes glow amber. He’s a werewolf.  Swallowing the lump in his throat Stiles realizes he probably just helped the wrong side , he’s about to start to back up when suddenly the werewolf growls viciously and springs from his knees to his feet and launches himself in the air.

Thinking that he’s about to die , Stiles closes his eyes and braces himself , only after a couple of seconds he hears a scream from behind him and turns to see the werewolf holding up one of the Peace keepers by his neck and is snarling in his face. Trying to think on how he can clean up his mess, Stiles doesn’t hear the other Peace Keeper move by the side of him and is caught completely off guard when he grabs him from behind and holds a knife to his throat.

“You little shit, because of you we are all probably going to die! I’m going to slit your throat and listen while you gurgle and gasp for breath you fucker” heart pounding with fear, feeling the stinging on his throat where the guy has already nicked him slightly , Stiles starts an incantation spell that’s way above his expertise, but before he can truly start to panic about the effects that can happen if he does the spell wrong, the werewolf turns to face him, and throwing the man he was holding all the way over to the other side of the path as if he weighs nothing, he charges towards them. In the collision that follows Stiles ends up free of the Peace keepers grasp but lands heavily on the floor, banging his head hard. Things start to get fuzzy then and he blacks out to the sound of another man’s screams.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing he becomes aware of is an odd wet sensation on his neck, grumbling slightly Stiles is shocked to awareness when someone grumbles back. Snapping his eyes open Stiles notices a dark haired man with arresting green eyes looking down at him with his head canted slightly to the side, the man grumbles again then leans towards his neck and starts licking there. All kinds of confused Stiles frowns.

“What?” the man’s head comes up from my neck to look down at him again and it’s when he sees the specks of blood on his chin that what happened comes rushing back. Body tensing with the realization that a _werewolf_ was just licking his neck, Stiles begins to panic. Not daring to move, Stiles simply lies there panting, vision going spotty, mind racing to all the different ways the werewolf could decide to kill him. He’s on the verge of passing out again from lack of oxygen when the werewolf starts whining in his throat and starts to gently nudge Stiles’s cheek with his head. The shock of hearing a grown man making such a noise shocks him from his panic and he starts to pay closer attention to what’s going on. The werewolf is not attacking him. The werewolf doesn’t seem to be _planning_ on attacking him. In fact he seems to be trying to _comfort_ him. Uh …ok. Not really knowing what to do Stiles slowly bring his arm up and scratches behind the werewolf’s ear like how he would do to a dog. Except he’s doing it to what looks like a man. Stiles actually wishes that he would shift back into his other form so his animal like behavior wouldn’t seem so goddamn strange.

“uh…good werewolf” he starts to grumble again but Stiles thinks these ones are happy grumbles so he continues to pet him, and the werewolf even leans towards his touch. Now that he doesn’t feel like he’s about to be eaten Stiles begins to take stock of his body. It becomes apparent quickly that apart from a few aches and pains, probably from the fall, he’s not seriously injured. He begins to look around then and is shocked to see nothing but trees.

“Oh shit” siting up slowly still keeping a wary eye on the werewolf Stiles takes another look around. “Crap where the hell am I?” at these words the werewolf backs up and crouches by Stiles side, makes some sort of chuffing sound, then disappears into the trees. Thinking that was the werewolf’s way of saying goodbye Stiles breathes a sigh of relief and stands up the rest of the way. On his third look around however he still doesn’t know which way the path is. Judging by the sun it’s barely mid-day so he couldn’t have been out long, so the werewolf couldn’t have carried him _that_ far. At least that what he hopes. He’s about to choose a direction at random and hope for the best when the werewolf comes charging back , not stopping until he’s standing right in front of Stiles , then shoves something at his chest. Bewildered Stiles looks down and gasps in surprise to see the pack he left on the pathway .

“Good werewolf” Stiles stretches his arm up to scratch behind his ear again, and he’s suddenly becomes uncomfortably aware of how NAKED the werewolf is. “ugh… guess werewolves aren’t big on modesty huh” trying not to look down , Stiles looks at the Were in the face and tries to think.

“Can you take me back to the path?” Judging by the sounds he’s been using to interact with him up until now Stiles doesn’t have much hope of the Were understanding him , but at this point nothing would surprise him. The Were just continues to stare at him blankly though. Frowning Stiles holds his pack up shakes it at the Were and points in the direction he just came from. The were scowls, looks to the pack, then back at Stiles’s face , makes that chuffing noise again then turns around and starts to head off in that direction again. Figuring it’s worth a shot, Stiles quickly follows him but a couple of minutes in he loses track of the Were and pauses .

“Fuck” He continues walking in a straight line for a few more minutes but when he still doesn’t see the Were he begins to worry that he’s simply pissed off , and Stiles has just followed him in the complete wrong direction . A few moments later however the werewolf appears again and this time he shoves a boot at Stiles’s chest. It has blood on it. Drooping It quickly to the floor Stiles tries to keep his voice level.

“yes , that’s a good boy , now again” he shakes the pack at him again , he doesn’t look to impressed with my praise but after giving me a small snort he starts to walk forward again and Stiles quickly follows. It’s not long before he sees a gap up ahead and the relief Stiles feels once he reaches the path again is intense. He expects to see the bodies of the Peace Keepers here but there are no sign of them.

“Did you clean up or something buddy?” The Were simply looks at him. Stiles knows he should go back to the village to report what happened , but considering that the report would include him saving a werewolf and helping to kill Peace Keepers even if it technically wasn’t intentional he thinks it’s probably not the best idea. Besides right now his main concern is Deaton and dealing with what happened will cause to much trouble and take too much  time. Sighing he starts to head down the path again.

After walking a few paces he realizes that the Were is following him at his heels. Stopping to turn to look at him Stiles thinks about how he can deal with this.

“uhhh …so thanks and everything , but I think I got it from here” The Were obviously doesn’t understand and continues to stand there staring. Lifting his arms up in a ‘stop’ gesture Stiles says sternly

“ Stay” The werewolf does have an impressive scowl.

“STAY!” Stiles starts to take a few more steps but the Were simply follows him again. Groaning in frustration Stiles tries again.

“Please for the love of god… STAY” No luck.

Thinking about how anyone could come by here and see him talking to a naked guy. Stiles starts to feel antsy.

“God, I’m going to have to let you come with me aren't I” He doesn't expect him to reply so Stiles Is shocked stupid when he does.

“Stay” Eyes widening in surprise Stiles stares at the were with his jaw halfway to the ground .

“You just talked”

“Stay” staring into Stiles eyes the Were brings his hands up in a stop gesture and mimicking what Stiles did earlier says firmly

“Stay” Stiles can’t help but laugh. The Were seems taken aback by the sound but staring at Stiles mouth he morphs his into a sort of smile that looks more than a little creepy.

“ok…enough mimicking I think” sighing in defeat Stiles digs in his pack and brings out his spare trousers and tunic. “ok buddy if you’re going to come with me , you have GOT to put some clothes on” Judging by the look of distaste that crosses the Were’s face when Stiles gestures to the clothes ,It isn’t going to be easy.


	2. The troll

The battle of the trousers commences. At first Stiles is pleasantly surprised when only after one mishap where the werewolf tries to put both legs in one trouser leg he seems to settle rather comfortably in the clothes. After a few minutes of walking however, when Stiles turns back around, the Were is pants less again. Blinking in confusion Stiles looks behind the werewolf and sees the trousers discarded a bit of a way down the path. Looking to the Were who is standing causally in just a short tunic Stiles begins to see that this may be a problem.

“Bad wolf , you have got to wear your trousers …look I’m wearing them” pointing to his own trousers , Stiles tries to convey the importance of said garments , but judging by the uncomprehending look that sits on the Were’s face it doesn’t really sink in. Heading back down the path Stiles retrieves the trousers and walks them back to the Werewolf.

“On” Watching him put them on but trying not to actually _see_ anything, Stiles starts to imagine the kind of looks people are going to give them if he walks into a town with a half-naked man, and begins to see the challenge he’s faced with by allowing the werewolf to join him. He has to make sure that no one discovers what the werewolf is .With how things are lately who knows how they will react, they probably won’t welcome him with open arms. They definitely won’t let him lick their necks or pet him behind his ears that’s for sure, only someone truly crazy would do that.  Feeling completely flabbergasted by how quickly his mission has gotten complicated Stiles starts to walk ahead again, only this time he turns to check on the Were more often.

Stiles soon becomes lost in the repetitive motion of walking and by the time he realizes that he’s shirking his trouser control duties and turns his head to look behind him the trousers have yet again vanished. Looking behind the Were, Stiles can’t spot them on the path so he turns to the Were , arms crossed over his chest , one eyebrow raised.

“Where are they?” The Were doesn’t look Stiles in the eye but starts moving his gaze around to the sides of the forest while rocking back on his heels .If Stiles didn’t know any better he would say that he’s trying to act casual. Not impressed Stiles doesn’t move, just continues to stare him down. Eventually the Were caves, and with a low growl storms to the side of the forest and comes back with the trousers in his hand and, grumbling the whole time, he then shoves them on.

“Seriously what is your problem with the trousers?... I mean I know how swinging free can feel good at times but doesn’t the breeze annoy you? Wouldn’t a little protection of the goods be welcome?” Sighing loudly Stiles begins to walk again.

After another hour or so of walking, Stiles begins to believe that he’s won this round when there’s still no sign of further indecent flashing. Feeling more than a little smug, Stiles starts to up his pace to make up for lost time.

Another twenty minutes have passed when Stiles stomach grumbles a complaint and so spotting a large rock at the side of the path he walks there and sits down. The Were quickly follows him and sits at his side.

His trousers have gone again.

“For love of god!” pointing at the Were’s lap that is way too close to Stiles for comfort, Stiles shouts. “fine! if you don’t wear pants then you don’t get to…be my friend” cringing a little at how stupid that sounds Stiles shoves a sandwich on the werewolf’s lap then turns his back to him with a huff.

For a while the only sounds are them eating, but once the Were has finished and Stiles is still ignoring him , he begins to nudge his head at his back. Frustrated and worried, Stiles shakes off his touch, resulting in a low whine from the Were. There’s silence for a while then until Stiles hears him whining from deep in his throat again only this time it’s louder and more pitiful. Calling himself all kinds of levels of soft, Stiles turns to look at him.

He’s wearing the trousers.

Smiling wide , Stiles stands and after a brief hesitation thinks _fuck it_ and hugs the Were hard.

“Good job buddy” The werewolf practically _preens,_ and when they start to walk again, this time he walks at Stiles’ side rather than at his heels.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stiles is a talker and the fact that the werewolf probably can’t understand him and definitely can’t reply doesn’t deter him in the slightest. So far he’s talked about his dad , Scott , the village , and a couple of stories of his escapades that’s resulted in him getting in trouble more than once. Throughout this when Stiles looks to the werewolf he always has this intent look on his face, Stiles knows from experience that most people by now would have a glazed expression and would have stopped listening (not that that would deter Stiles either) maybe not knowing what he’s saying makes it more interesting. He’s halfway through the story of the time he accidently blew up part of Deaton’s house when something occurs to him.

“…Oh my god , you know I haven’t even told you my name!” Stiles doesn’t know why this is important , but he feels that it is so he just goes with it. Pausing in their walking Stiles brings his hand up to his chest and states clearly

“Stiles” He figures if he can say the word ‘stay’ then he can dam well learn ‘Stiles’.  He repeats the gesture a few more times.

Eventually Stiles pauses and looks at the Were expectantly. The Were raises his hand to his own chest and says.

“Stiles”

 Frowning Stiles shakes his head.

“No , no ,no” pointing to his chest again he continues “I’M Stiles” frowning right back at him , the Were raises his hand and lays it on Stiles’s chest.

“Stiles”

Pumping his fist into the air, smiling wide , Stiles exclaims

“Yes! You are the smartest werewolf ever!” In answer the Were does that creepy smile thing. Cringing slightly at the look, Stiles thinks about the Were for a minute.

“You know …we should give _you_ a name, I can’t keep referring to you as the werewolf or buddy , especially when we reach the next village…” contemplating this for a moment Stiles decides the Were should probably have a say so he starts to contemplate out loud, and pointing at the Were’s chest each time he tries a new name, he starts listing a few.

“…how about, Simon? no?...William? what? No?  but that would have sounded cool, William the Werewolf… I’ll put that in the maybe pile… Thomas? , Arthur?…Peter?” the Were raises his top lip up in a snarl at this name “ok ok not Peter … Edward?...Derek…L-” The Were is making excited chuffing noises now so Stiles repeats the name.

“Derek?”  The Were brings his hand up to his chest then and says.

“der-rek” Giving the Were an intense look Stiles comments.

“You know I think I’ve been underestimating you , you understand more than you let on don’t you” after a few more moments of studying the Were , the Were seems to get frustrated because he takes Stiles wrist brings it to his chest and says.

“Derek” Smiling and chuckling a little, Stiles gives in.

“Ok, ok , Derek it is, come on let’s keep moving” Stiles continues contemplating the we- , Derek for a little longer, he’d been treating him more like an animal , a pet , but maybe he’s a lot more human than animal.  Giving an internal shrug, Stiles decides that Derek doesn’t seem to mind how he’s been treating him so neither should he.

“…anyway where was I …Well Deaton had these new herbs right , and they were just sitting there , right in the open , so really it was partly his fault to…”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“..you know Derek , you are a great listener , I’m thinking of making you my new best friend , I’m probably in need of one since Scott is off getting married …” It’s a couple of hours later and as Stiles looks around he realises it’s starting to get dark.

“Ok, let’s find somewhere to camp down for the night.” Stiles walks a little into the forest, making sure he takes note of the way back to the path as he goes, but also insures that their far enough to not be seen from it.

“This looks good” He then pulls the contents from his pack and untangles and unrolls it.

“Part pack, part blanket, cool huh?” Derek doesn’t look that impressed. Laying the blanket on the ground, then laying on half of it and pulling the other half on top of him Stiles settles down.

“Well… find a comfortable place Derek , we need to make a lot of progress tomorrow to make up for today a little” Derek looks around for a moment before coming to Stiles and kneeling by his side. Then giving a small abrupt whine he burrows under the blanket and settles with half his body on top of Stiles and his face nestled in his neck.

“uh…ok…so apparently werewolves are cuddlers … big time…” Derek’s only response is to nuzzle Stiles’ neck a little.

“Derek you think maybe you could give me a little-” Stiles is cut off when, with a small growl, Derek brings his hand up and covers Stiles’s mouth. Mumbling into the hand Stiles tries to say

“Finally had enough of my talking have ya?” Derek just puts more pressure on his mouth and growls again. Stiles gets the message and resigns himself to being Derek’s snuggle buddy for the night. If he’s honest with himself it is kind of comfortable, it _is_ a little chilly at night and Derek is really warm…

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stiles wakes up alone. Looking around he judges it’s early morning and stretches a little noting that it’s definitely getting colder.

“Derek?” He can hear someone crashing through the forest towards him then . Tensing in alarm he’s relieved when he spots Derek running towards him. When he reaches Stiles he lays something on floor by his side. Something big. And bloody.

“Did you hunt a deer?” Jumping a little Derek says

“Stiles , Stiles , Stiles” and then nudges the deer closer to him.

“Jesus this is huge! way da go Der! I’m the _worst_ at hunting, I didn’t think I’d get any meat on this trip” Pulling the deer closer Stiles marvels a little.

“How in the-” Stiles notices the teeth marks in the neck then and tries to hold in a shudder, knowing that Derek was excited to bring this for him he keeps his voice cheerful , even though thinking about _how_ he hunted the deer had grossed him out a little , he doesn’t even have a speck of blood on him , how did he do that?

“Let me deal with this buddy , then I’ll make a fire and we can have a feast!” looking pleased even though he can’t really know what he’s saying Derek sits on the blanket and watches with avid interest as Stiles prepares the deer. Stiles tries not to think how Derek would normally eat it.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

They have made good progress and it’s coming up to midday when Stiles think he hears water.

“mmmm, I think I can hear a stream or something  , let’s go take a look because I don’t know about you but I’m getting pretty ripe” Heading to the left of the path , where he thinks the sound of running water is coming from , Stiles leads Derek a little ways into the forest.

It’s not long until they come across a small clearing. In it there is a small mountain side and the most stunning waterfall cascades from it landing in a wide pond of clear water at the bottom.

“Wow , it’s beautiful isn-” Derek goes running passed him then and shouting Stiles names he dives into the water.

Shaking his head a little Stiles takes off his tunic and is halfway through removing his pants when Derek comes up for air. Derek stares at him while he’s taking the trousers off and he starts to feel a little uncomfortable. It’s when Stiles trousers are off fully though that he realises why he was staring. With undisguised glee Derek hurriedly removes his own Trousers and throws them at the side of the water.

 “Still not a big fan then?” Chuckling a little Stiles leaves on his under garments and dives in the water to join him.

They spend more time than they should swimming and messing around and Stiles has more fun than he wants to admit , but eventually Stiles exits the water and gets dressed. He’s worried that getting Derek to do the same is going to be another ordeal, but after only a slight whine he puts the trousers on (though he does give his lower half a disgusted look when he’s finished).

“Come on we better go, I want to make good time …I’m worried about Deaton…” Stiles frowns and looks down at the floor wondering what Deaton could be going through right now and feeling a little guilty about spending the past hour or so in the water. His silence must make Derek realise that’s something’s wrong because he puts his face in Stiles neck then saying ‘Stiles’ a few times.

“I’m good, let’s just get a move on”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

They’ve haven’t been walking long when Derek, for the third time since the time at the waterfall, rubs his face in Stiles’ neck.

“Oh my god! Are you scenting me?” Derek doesn’t reply of course but it makes sense. Stiles thinks about when he woke up from the attack and how Derek was licking his neck, he’s probably been smelling a lot like him since, but considering he washed in the waterfall he probably just smells like himself now. Well he _did_ just smell like himself anyway.  Sighing when Derek does it again, Stiles doesn’t object, he strangely doesn’t mind that much. It’s not like anyone but Derek will notice anyway.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s still early afternoon when they reach the village , Stiles feels slightly relieved to see it as it proves he’s heading the right way , and after the attack he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that they were.

“So… here we are, there’s going to be other people here so I need you to act human, ok?” Looking at Derek who only stares back at him in response, Stiles begins to feel a little nervous.

“I need to get some supplies…but maybe we should make this quick” Stiles doesn’t want anything to happen to Derek just because he’s misunderstood and different. He doesn’t know what happened with the peace keepers but looking at how Derek is with him he doubts Derek was the one to start that , he’s just so…well… sweet. It feels strange to call him that considering he watched him throw a man through the air with little effort, but he’s always been sweet to Stiles. Promising himself he’ll keep Derek safe, Stiles leads the way to the village of Cantleberry.

Stiles had heard of this village of course since it’s relatively close to his own, but he doesn’t know much about it. Looking around Stiles notes that it’s smaller than home, the village centre only consists of a tavern, a church, a food store , a mage shop, and a small run down inn. The inn looked a little tempting but as Stiles makes his way further into the village he sees that one of the town houses by the tavern has been converted into a peace keeper’s base, he suspects that there will be only two peace keepers in a village this small but he doesn’t want to risk anyone discovering Derek. A smaller place means fewer people and more attention on new comers.

Frowning Stiles notes that the lack of people is unusual even for a village of this size, since entering he’s only come across one farmer on his horse and a women washing clothes outside a town house, at this time of the day there should be a few more people around. It’s as their walking past the mage shop that he realizes what else is bugging him about the lack of people, there are no children, there are always children out and about at this time of a day in his village, usually left outside to play when their parents run errands. Pulling Derek a little closer to him Stiles carries on to the food store and decides to make this visit not just quick but abrupt.

When he turns the corner to where the store is Stiles sees what could be the cause of the lack of people. Up ahead, across the path to where they are standing, a town house has been _wrecked_. It literally looks like someone has cut it in half , seats ,a table, candles and other household items lie on top of the rubble that is the right side of the house. His nosiness getting the better of him Stiles pulls Derek across the path to take a closer look. When they get close Stiles notices Derek wrinkling his nose a little and he lets out a displeased growl.

“What in the hell could have caused this” Stiles muses out loud.

“A troll did that, he did” jumping a little Stiles spins around to see the old farmer that was on his horse earlier standing not far behind them, he’s wearing a tunic that almost comes down to his knees with a brown vest over the top and dark baggy pants, and Stiles doesn’t want to be mean but the guy reeks, he wonders if that’s why Derek Scrunched his nose up , because if he can smell it from here he dreads to think what Derek is smelling right now. Stiles takes a second to calm his heart from the slight scare and to put his hand on Derek’s shoulder when he, reacting to Stiles fear, put himself between him and the old man. At least he didn’t start growling. What the man said finally registers then.

“Wait, did you say TROLL?!”

“Yep I sure did , Troll did that , it did” the farmer who obviously likes to tell a story points to the house  “right angry the troll was , it was” he pulls a piece of hay from his pocket and begins to chew it before continuing “It came right from the forest, it did , bashed the whole side of the house with a tree, It did” he stops for a second to shake his head.

“Did anyone get hurt?”

“na, no one was in the house and everyone cleared out of the area fast , they did, Peace Keepers came and sorted him then , they did  , clever buggers them peace keepers just blew a bit of dust on the troll and he went down , he did , shook the floor like an earthquake it did , big fella he was” being reminded of the peace keepers put Stiles back on track.

“well we’ve  got to get some supplies then head out, so nice talking to ya, it was” cringing when he realises he’s beginning to talk like the farmer , Stiles lifts his hand in a wave and guides Derek across the street to the store whispering a “Good boy Derek” on the way. He realizes then that Derek is looking at all the buildings with a little bit of awe in his face and he realizes that if he’s been living as deep in the forest as most other werewolves do then he’s probably never seen man-made structures “You wait until you see the capital, I’ve never been but I’ve seen pictures of the castle, you won’t be the only one in awe of that building I’m guessing”

Stiles quickly goes into the store and picks up some food, and a blanket he’s about to leave when he sees a children’s book for sale and he gets one of those to. He heads back to the mage shop then and buys some Tandom powder , it creates a spark that’s great for starting fires and with how the weather is starting to turn he thinks they’ll be needing that, especially if they get any rain. After that they head out of the village and start making their way further south.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They don’t get far. Stiles is yammering away about the importance of general hygiene when Derek suddenly jumps in front of him, crouches low , shifts into his beast form, and growls in a way he hasn’t since the Peace Keepers.

“What is-” Stiles hears it then, a thumping noise that’s getting louder. He has a moment to wonder what it is when a troll comes running from the right side of the forest just up ahead of them. Guess the troll from the village had a friend. Although Stiles wouldn’t call this troll a ‘big fella’ he’d call him fucking huge. From what he’s read, trolls are dumb but angry creatures who like to destroy things just for the hell of it. This troll is no different it seems. After spotting Derek and Stiles he comes charging after them.

“Stiles!” Derek pushes Stiles into the forest, and Stiles falls hard, winding himself a little, he’s gained enough breath back to sit up slightly just in time to see the troll fling Derek up into the air as if he was a pesky fly. Heart stopping with fear Stiles jumps to his feat and reaches into his pack searching for the rest of his cujori herb, hoping there’s enough left to take the troll down. He’s still searching when he sees the troll heading to Derek’s still form.

“shit!” abandoning the search when he realises that the herb’s not there Stiles runs towards the troll and starts to try something he’s seen Deaton do before. Pulling his focus internally, he opens his mind to the magic beyond , it’s this ability that differentiates regular humans from mage’s , he concentrates on the energy around himself and then, ignoring the call of nature’s magic from the forest, he thinks about the troll’s energy and begins to _pull_. Nothing happens. Stiles begins to panic when he sees that Derek is moving but only sluggishly and the troll is almost on him.

Stiles decides to Reach further into himself even though Deaton has warned him not to do this without another mage there as an anchor. Shockingly when he reaches a certain point he finds he can’t just sense the magic and energy around him but he can see it. Bright points of interchanging colours and swirls that call to him, he almost gets lost in the call when he hears a viscous growl and looks back to Derek and sucks in a sharp breath. It’s not seeing that the troll has now reached Derek and that he’s trying to fight him off by slicing with his claws that makes him gasp, but the red pulsing energy that’s around Derek. Now that he’s looking at it, its call is stronger than the forests. What’s really strange though is that a thread of his red energy is coming off the main circle that surrounds him and is stretching towards Stiles, at about half way to Stiles the thread turns to a dark rich green, following it with his eyes Stiles sees that the thread is then connected to the dark rich green energy that surrounds himself.  Ignoring that for now Stiles looks to the murky white energy of the troll and _pulls_ again _._ This time it works.

The troll’s murky energy begins moving towards Stiles, after it reaches him, Stiles does what Deaton did and makes sure he doesn’t absorb the energy but pushes it into the earth. The next time the Troll heads back towards Derek, after retreating from his claws, his body wobbles and he seems drunk , he’s still moving though , so Stiles continues pulling the energy away from it . The troll takes two more steps, stops, shakes its head then tries to take a step back, only he doesn’t make it. The troll collapses onto the floor, and he did in fact make the earth shake. Sighing in relief Stiles tries to close his mind to the magic but he notices with alarm that he can’t do it , he’s in too deep , if he closes it now , he’ll lock his conscious mind in with it.

Panicking a little, Stiles tries to stay calm and thinks on his lessons. At this point if a mage gets lost another mage would throw a sort of tether of his own magic to pull him out, but without another mage…Stiles thinks about the thread he has to Derek then and thinking it’s worth a try he looks for it, grabs it, and pulls himself along it. It works. The colours of the magic fade and the call to the nature magic dilutes to what he’s used to and he’s able to close the door to that completely. Sighing in relief Stiles looks around, feeling a little disoriented now that the energy colours have gone everything looks a little…dull. He spots Derek over by the troll, hauling its great mass into the forest. Eyes widening by how much strength that must take , Stiles just stands there and watches.

Once he’s done Derek comes over to Stiles and shoves his head into his neck.

“Stiles”

“ye , ye … I was worried about you to buddy”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the excitement of the trolls attack Stiles isn’t up to walking that much further today and he and Derek settle down for the night a little before it starts to get dark. They light a fire this time , though Stiles doesn’t use the Tandom powder to do it , he’s a little nervous about using his magic even for a small spell like that after today and decides to keep the door closed, for a little longer at least.

They are sitting close on the new blanket and had just finished eating the leftover deer that they had when Stiles remembers something.

“Hey , I bought you something today” Stiles stretches to the side to empty his pack and pulls out the children’s picture book he bought today. Opening it to the first page he moves to sit as close as possible to Derek to show him. On the first page is a picture of a tree. Stiles points at it and says

“Tree” Derek who darts his eyes from the book to Stiles a couple of times turns to face the tree their leaning against and says

“Tree”

“oh…ye , guess I could have taught you that one without the book huh? …didn’t think of that.” After a moment of thought when Stiles thinks that Derek may be a little smarter than himself sometimes, Stiles turn to the next page and sees a cat.

“Aha! There’s none of these around “ pointing to the picture he says “Cat” Derek looks to the picture pulls his top lip up in a sneer and then huffs and moves his hand to turn the page . Laughing at this, Stiles asks

“What? You don’t like cats?” Derek just points to the picture of a plate of food and looks at Stiles expectantly.

“ok,ok, that’s…food” Derek repeats the word.

They spend a bit of time on the book and they’ve gone through the words, chair, table, sit, bed ,sleep, dog, magic and bird before Stiles decides to call it a night.

“Alright, time for sleep I think” Derek lies down quickly closes his eyes then raises his hand to point at himself and says

“Sleep” Laughing at how he’s mimicking what the picture showed right down to the position of the body, Stiles joins him and pulls the blanket that he uses for his pack over the both of them.

“Good job buddy, you’ll be talking in no time” After a few moments Derek must decide that he doesn’t like the sleeping position from the book because he huffs then moves so he’s half lying on top of Stiles again , with his head in his favourite spot by his neck. Stiles grumbles a little but secretly he prefers this position to.   


End file.
